Council for Opportunity in Education

Scaling Student Success Through TRIO-Informed Practices

For decades, TRIO Student Support Services has demonstrated what is possible when students receive more than access to college—they receive the relationships, guidance, academic support, proactive outreach, mentoring, and sense of belonging they need to persist and succeed. The question for community colleges is: How can the practices that work so well in TRIO inform student success across an entire institution?

Build on What Works

From Successful Programs to Stronger Institutions

Community colleges are being asked to do more than ever: increase persistence and completion, strengthen transfer pathways, respond to changing workforce needs, advance economic mobility, and demonstrate the value of higher education. Yet many practices known to improve student success remain concentrated within individual programs rather than embedded throughout the institution. The Community College Student Success Blueprint: Scaling Student Success Through TRIO-Informed Practices challenges colleges to think differently about scale. Instead of simply adding new services, institutions can examine what is already working—particularly within TRIO SSS—and intentionally incorporate those lessons into the systems, structures, relationships, and practices that shape the broader student experience.

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Terrance L. Hamm

The Council for Opportunity in Education Announces Inaugural Award for Institutional Effectiveness Recipients

April 2, 2026

The institutions—Oklahoma City Community College, South Seattle College, and Chesapeake College—are demonstrating how proven strategies like holistic advising, mentoring, and proactive student support can be embedded institution-wide to improve retention, completion, and transfer outcomes.
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Why It Matters

Community colleges are the gateway to postsecondary opportunity for more than 4.5 million first-generation, low-income, and underrepresented students nationwide.

A 2019 U.S. Department of Education evaluation found that SSS participants are 47 percent more likely to complete a two-year degree or transfer and 18 percent more likely to earn a bachelor’s degree than comparable peers. By recognizing institutions that have institutionalized SSS practices—like academic coaching, mentoring, and data-driven evaluation—we aim to spotlight replicable models that boost student persistence, development, and achievement.

Who Can Apply

All public community colleges are encouraged to apply—whether you currently house an active TRIO SSS grant or your SSS program has concluded. To be eligible, your institution must:

  • Demonstrate how SSS-inspired practices have been embedded beyond the TRIO program into broader advising, resource alignment, or curriculum strategies.
  • Show evidence of measurable impact on student outcomes (e.g., retention rates, transfer metrics, credential completion) comparable to SSS benchmarks.

Join COE in celebrating community college innovation—apply for the Award for Institutional Effectiveness and showcase how your campus is transforming student lives through sustainable, opportunity-centered practices.  If you have questions, email Nicole Norfles at [email protected].

Get In Touch

If you require the password to the Directory or have any questions about these resources, please contact COE Director of Program Practice and Innovation Nicole Norfles via email at [email protected] or call (202) 347-7430.

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Strengthening Community College Sustainability Through Scaled TRIO Strategies

Community colleges today confront unprecedented challenges: nationwide enrollment declines, tightening budgets, and rising student basic-needs pressures.

Institutions face shrinking revenues at precisely the moment when food and housing insecurity demand expanded support services. To close budget shortfalls—driven by falling enrollments, retention, and graduation rates—colleges must adopt evidence-based interventions that bolster student success and institutional financial health.

The Challenge: Declining Enrollment, Retention, and Revenue

  • Enrollment Downturn: Between 2012 and 2022, community college enrollment dropped by over 20%, eroding tuition revenues and straining institutional budgets.
  • Retention Pressures: Low-income and first-generation students—who make up nearly 60% of the community college population—face compounded challenges that reduce fall-to-fall retention and impede progress toward credentials.
  • Rising Basic-Needs Costs: Today’s students contend with food insecurity (affecting up to 45% of enrollees) and housing instability, forcing colleges to allocate scarce resources toward emergency aid and support programs.

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Enhance the services you provide low-income, first-generation students and students with disabilities to increase their changes of success.